Spielberg: Lincoln movie not "political football"

Director Steven Spielberg speaks at The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's (HFPA) annual luncheon. Spielberg offered a cinematic vision of President Abraham Lincoln's battle to outlaw slavery in Lincoln, which had a sneak preview that is already generating early buzz of awards for star Daniel Day-Lewis. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Steven Spielberg offered a cinematic vision of President Abraham Lincoln's battle to outlaw slavery in Lincoln, which had a sneak preview that is already generating early buzz of awards for star Daniel Day-Lewis.

After a screening at the New York Film festival on Monday, Spielberg acknowledged the pressure of bringing to the big screen one of America's most revered political figures, and he side-stepped questions about its relevance to current politics ahead of the Nov 6 United States presidential elections.

To audience laughter, he said he had deliberately sought to avoid such entanglements by asking for a release date after the elections. Lincoln is due for limited release on Nov 9 and timed for the Hollywood awards season.

"Don't let this political football play back and forth," the Oscar-winning director said he urged distributors, noting the "confusing" aspect in the film that shows how US political parties back in Lincoln's time "traded political places over the last 150 years".